Help Choosing my Motherboard

[sidereus]

Hi, my name is Jean-François and I want to do my first build

so i thought about few Motherboards ( SLI and PCIe 2.0 , all of them ) but the problem is that I heard many horrific stories on all of them and I dont want to waste money on buying a motherboard which wont work easily since I am a student ( low budget )

Here are the motherboards i looked at

Asus P5N-D SLI ( DDR2-800) 150$

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131232

MSI P7N SLI Platinum (DDR2-800) 150$

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130159

Evga Nforce 750i FTW (DDR2-1066) 190$

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188026&Tpk=Evga%2b750i

All those cards are PCIe 2.0 , which is important for me if i want to change my video card in 1.5 year or so
I dont really care about the SLI but every motherboards with PCIe 2.0 have 2 slots so...

I would like to know between all of these board which 1 is the best for the performance/price and easy to install. I am asking you because I read many posts on forums and etc...and in all of them there was few guys who had problem with these types of boards

and I want to avoid flashing the bios since it's risky and if i fail...well my dog is dead

If you have better MoBo with PCIe 2.0 give me your suggestion

Ps.: Here is what I am planning to use with the board

Intel E8400 , 8800 GTS 512mb, For the memory it will depend if it is 1066 or 800 but I think the corsair XMS2 rox ( suggestions appreciated there too )

thanks in advance

Ps.2 : is it normal i cant find any gigabyte EP45-DS3R in the north america ? it seems to be a good Mobo too...

 

[ilovebarny]

i suggest you go with the evga 780i. i have heard that the 750 series is not as good. i think it has some sli issues. and of all the mobo's people complain about the evga 780i is the lest that i have seen.

 

[sidereus]

thanks , I think you are right... but I googled few things and it appears that the new Intel P45 chipset will be in store very soon...so I think I will buy 1 of them since Intel MoBo have a better quality and less annoying compatibility bugs ( I heard ).

still these **** intel stay with crossfire (grrrrr) so I may buy an ATI video card to use the crossfire...later maybe....because the new ATI cards are comming out soon too

omg so excited to the price drop, after all that stuff come out

 

[ibuypower]

Bro I dont be fooled. Not all 750i mobos support full 16x sli (most are 8x 8x or 16x 8x). The MSI P7N Platinum is the only one that I've seen to support full sli. The others you have listed do not. So i would definitely go with the P7N board.

 

[ilovebarny]

aa cool i dont blame you but one thing to watch out for is procrastination. with the way technology is progressing you can say oohh im going to get that when it comes out. then it comes out with the news that something better is coming out 6 months later. basically stick with the new mobo you want get a cool graphics card some good ram and enjoy the fruits of your work.

 

[ibuypower]

CORRECTION!!! CORRECTION!!! In my last post I said that the 750i was not full sli my mistake. I was thinking of the 650i but that has nothing to do with your situation sorry about that. But I did say you should go with the P7N and you still should. I also agree 100% with "ilovebarny" in that you shouldn't wait for something new to come out in 6 months because, like he said, when that comes out then something else new might be coming out in another 6 months. Or when it finally come out there might be some bug in it and then you'll have waited for nothing. But enough said. Go for the P7N.

 

[sidereus]

yeah that's my problem ... I'm like that ...I'm always waiting for the newest and cheapest stuff

damn technologie is going too fast for me man

thanks for your answer ibuypower

 

[aminel1358]

Hi,
As I see you really do not need SLI as as I see you have mentioned that Intel Chips are crossfire support and you have said that because of that you should buy an ATI VGA.
Do not go the wrong way my friend.As you know Intel Chips are usually better choice if you want an Intel CPU.But do not go for every new technology you see. If you search a bit more for P45 you can find some issues, because it is new.you should wait until new revisions for every new technology in any area.
If you buy an Intel chip MB you are not obliged to buy an ATI VGA.It is the way if you want to crossfire it,but if not you can go to Nvidia and nothing will be wrong.
And my suggestion is ABIT IX38 Quad GT for Mainboard as it is rocksolid,fast and OC master.Everything you need from a MB with a real good price.Go to Newegg.com forums and see how lovely this Board is.
Memory, Corsair is a real master in this point and XMS2 DHX series are really good choices.I think bus 800 will suit you very well.